We made it to another week of the MLB season 2020. Despite the fact that a large chunk of teams was affected by the recent outbreaks of coronavirus from Marlins and Cardinals, which resulted in nearly 30 postponed games, the league held chugging along with games elsewhere last week. The Cardinals have remained sidelined since July 29, and we still do not know when the team will be able to play back.
So, let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest stories from the latest bundle of games, and give each one a buy / sell decision. What are you buying and selling after this week in baseball? Feel free to share your thoughts on Twitter with me @KatherineAcqua.
Let’s get to it now:
Buy: Tatis hot on the plate
In his second season in the bigs, San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. has been off to a hot start. Entering Tuesday, the 21-year-old leads the league in total bases (52) and is tied with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for most home games, with eight. Five of those homers came in last week for Tatis and two of them happened in the same game on Saturday. On the season, he pitched .328 / .408 / .776 with a 1,184 OPS (229 OPS +).
Tatis introduces on Tuesday, Tatis performs an eight-game hit streak from August 2, and it includes three multi-hit games. In the last six games, he has fallen to .435 with seven runs scored, a double, six home games and nine RBIs.
The Padres phenomenon became the ninth different player, 21 or younger, in MLB history to hit a fourth home game in four consecutive games, and the first since Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. last year. He also became the first to hit 30 home runs and record at least 20 steals in his first 100 games played. There are only eight other MLB players in history who have hit at least 30 homers in their first 100 MLB games: Jose Abreu, Cody Bellinger, Pete Alonso, Ryan Braun, Aaron Judge, Mark McGwire, Gary Sanchez and Rudy York.
To add to his already impressive CV, Tatis has the competition’s best average finish speed (97.6 mph), hard hit percentage (67.4) and the second-best weight-based average (.487).
Tatis excelled in his rookie campaign, so much so that he was able to get some votes for the NL Rookie of the Year award, even after his season was cut short due to a back injury. His improvement from year 1 to year 2 has been a lot of fun to watch. He has the same strength, speed and strong defense that we saw in 2019 – the strikeouts are still fierce – but now he has started to sharpen up on the plate, with a little more patience. I buy the hot start from Tatis. He has already become one of the most electric talents in baseball, and I do not think it will take long before he is one of the faces of the sport.
Sell: Concerns over the Reds after so-so start
The Cincinnati Reds are charging this offseason with the hope of a return to controversy, but after 16 games, the club simply hangs on to its place in second place behind the Chicago Cubs in NL Central. Entering game on Tuesday, the Reds are 7-9 over the season and have a .500 winning percentage for their last 10 games.
Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos, acquired in the offseason, still continues his unbelievable start at Cincy (we marked this week’s Buy or Sell), but the rest of the lineup has not been so offensively impressed. Shogo Akiyama is in a slump, Mike Moustakas has only played seven games this season due to injury, Freddy Galvis was 2-for-12 last week and Jesse Winker is one of the few Reds to have played above .240. In terms of rotation, Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray have been solid and Luis Castillo has been decent, but the Reds have only scored a total of six points in the three games that Castillo started.
The bullpen is where the Reds need some help. Like everything in this shortened season 2020, any weakness must be addressed almost immediately. Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen has not looked like his usual self this season and is sporting a 16.88 ERA (2.92 ERA in 2019).
Of late, Raisel Iglesias, Amir Garrett and Nate Jones have been solid, but overall the Reds relievers ERA 7.77, the second worst in baseball. No other relief has lit up this season, and with the shaky performances so far this season, the bullpen is in need of some reliable arms.
This does not look so great on paper for the Reds right now, but I will sell on all concerns. It’s still early, they are not that far below .500 and can still climb up again to keep the division in second place, or even, when things start to click on offense again, they can try for the Cubs for it to take first. Plus, there will be the extended postseason this year. All that being said, the Reds will have to play even better, but eventually, if I go now, they are still in good shape for a mountain after the season.
Buy: A’s look like a real competitor
Last week we asked the question of whether or not we were buying or selling the AL West became a two-team race between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros. Well, now we ask the question whether we are buying or selling the A’s as a true World Series candidate.
After a winning streak of nine games (the longest winning streak in baseball this season) saw its end on Monday at the Los Angeles Angels, the A’s extended their first place lead AL West over the Astros after four and a half games . According to Sportsline, the chance at the 2020 World Series jumped from a 3.6 percent chance of winning it all to 7.9 percent. Last week, the Astros were up 60 percent to win the division and the A’s at 33 percent. Now, after Oakland’s impressive week, the A’s are 80 percent to win the division. Our very own Mike Axisa broke down why Athletics have made it clear that they are a legitimate competitor of the World Series with their recent winning streak.
The A’s swept the Astros in Houston, as part of their winning streak this week. Side note: both clubs came into that demolition in a bench clearing. Meanwhile, the Astros have lost their last five of six games. There is still some time for the Astros to jump back into the division race and make this a two-team race as we discussed earlier, but based on the recent success of Oakland, we now need to discuss whether this team the real deal is for a World Series title this year. I’ll say yes, I’m buying this. Here’s why.
The A’s are led by a stable rotation and ball pain, two things we see teams teaming up with all over the league at the moment. A big factor, of course, is the short season itself and the rapid training of second spring, which allows pitchers the normal time normally given to increase their work pressure. We have seen more pitcher injuries than normal so far this season. But, Oakland’s pitching has managed to stay healthy and reliable.
Right-hander Frankie Montas has been solidary on the mound for the A’s. In his last two starts, he took the win at home and recorded 14 strikeouts, four walks, six hits and a 0.64 ERA over 14 innings. Fellow rookie Chris Bassitt (quality starter), Jesus Luzardo (earned his first MLB win), Mike Fiers (so far reliable) have also contributed to the early season’s success. Entered on Tuesday, the A’s have the third lowest ERA (3.10) in the league, beating only the Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers.
